English 308, Technical
Writing, Spring 2001
Individual Project Assignment
(with thanks to Dr. Eubanks)
As I've mentioned in
the syllabus, you will be doing an individual project during the final
weeks of this semester. The assignment has three components:
Component One:
You will create a document of your choice. While the document should be
a "technical document" of some kind, my interpretation of"technical" will
be fairly liberal. You need my approval for your project, but I will reject
projects only on these grounds: (1) the document is just not technical
or professional enough (2) the project is too large to be completed on
time, or (3) the project does not call for enough work to justify giving
it full credit (e.g., writing a letter). Your project may be based upon
a fictional scenario, or it may be a client project.
Try something new in
this project. If you have already done an individual brochure, don’t do
another one. If you have already done an individual web page, don’t do
another one. Try out a new document design, try a new piece of software
(e.g. Dreamweaver), or try a new kind of document. The “something-new”
aspect of your project is important because part of your project will be
doing some research and presenting your findings about what you've learned.
Component Two:
On April 26, May 1 or May 3, you will make a presentation to the class
about your project that should be based upon outside research that relates
to your project. For example, if you create a set of instructions, you
should read outside material about instructions, manuals, or procedural
discourse, and tell the class how you applied that research to your project.
(I will say more about outside research below.)
The presentation should
be about seven or eight minutes. Within that time you should make several
important points and illustrate those points effectively. Please use whatever
visual aids will help you make your point-overheads, posters, handouts,
or computer projection (please contact me well in advance if you need me
to arrange computer projection on a non-lab day).
Component Three:
Along with the document you create, you will give me a one page memo that
(1) explains what you researched and how you applied that research to creating
your document and (2) explains the major choices you faced when creating
your document. For example, you might research audience analysis. Your
analysis would explain what principles you applied when you analyzed the
audience for your project.
In the past, students
have done research on a wide variety of topics that include the following:
-
web page design
-
other aspects of print document design such as
typography, figures and graphs, layout, and color
-
document genres such as newsletters, proposals,
reports, and web sites, composing issues such as designing headings and
use of plain language
-
rhetorical issues such as analyzing audience,
analyzing purpose, writing and editing collaboratively, and persuasiveness
-
technology issues such as new software applications
and advanced techniques for using common applications such as Word and
PageMaker
How much research
is enough?
-
You should be fine with one long article/chapter
or two shorter articles/chapters/websites.
-
I have many books in my office that might be
helpful.
-
If you document it carefully, you may also do
primary research (interview).
Good luck with the
project! If you have questions, please contact me by e-mail.